One of the things I'm encountering on the Brown network file system,
is that the number of files loaded by DrRacket causes some strain on
their systems. I checked with the admins here, and by their count,
opening up DrRacket or doing things with 'raco make' can open about a
thousand files at startup time.
The Java folks have a notion of ".jar" files that pack a collection of
class files into a single archive, but also make it possible to load
classes directly out of .jars without an intermediate unpacking stage.
.plt archives can serve a role to pack files together. Does Racket
have a mechanism for loading modules out of them without unpacking?